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Tottenham Out Of Relegation Zone, Blackburn In It

Tottenham Hotspur remain unbeaten at home under new boss Harry Redknapp as they beat a 10-man Blackburn Rovers 1-0 thanks to another goal by the rejuvenated Roman Pavlyuchenkol. Tottenham as a result also moved out of the Premier League’s bottom three, however Blackburn, who had defender Martin Olsson sent off on 39 minutes, are now in 19th position.

It was Aaron Lennon who was the Tottenham inspiration. He laid the winner on for Pavlyuchenko after he had stolen the ball off Olsson and then, after going off on a run, cut the ball back for the Russian to slot in. Pavlyuchenko almost grabbed a second when his glancing header hit a post. It was Pavlyuchenko’s third goal for Spurs since the arrival of Harry Redknapp at White Hart Lane.

The day the got worse for Olsson and Blackburn as he was dismissed after bringing down Lennon, his tormentor in the first half. He received his second yellow card and that was that.

Meanwhile up in Sunderland, Valon Behrami’s first goal for West Ham was enough to give them a much-needed victory over the below-par Sunderland of Roy Keane.

Behrami’s shot took a deflection off Sunderland striker Kenwyne Jones to beat stranded keeper Marton Fulop. Sunderland did have penalty appeals turned down when Jones and Djibril Cisse went down in the area but Behrami should have added a second but instead he could only hit the bar from five yards out. The same problems that Cisse had whilst at Liverpool haven’t gone away as the striker was guilty of missing a series of chances. He simply isn’t consistent enough. Perhaps he should spend less time on his ridiculous hairstyles and concentrate more on his game, especially in front of goal.

The result though was probably just reward for a battling defensive performance by West Ham and it was the first victory in eight games. That should ease a little of the mounting pressure on their diminutive manager Gianfranco Zola.

Good to see Zola get a win. I can’t help liking the guy. He always seems happy and smiles during interviews etc. Obviously never met the guy but you just can’t help thinking that he’s one of the nicest guys in the game. I hope the harsh realities of life in top flight management doesn’t stripe him of those qualities.